Apparel shoe



May 2s, 1929. J,w LAKE 1,715,090

APPAREL SH01:

Filed April 22, 1927 lsatented A May 218, 1929..

i -UNITEDTSIA'IES PATENT orifice.l

JOHN wfmxn, or ST. `LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR To BOYD-WELSH SHOR COMPANY,

OF sT. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION or MISSOURI.

" APPAREL e SHOE.

Application led April 22,

This invention relates generally to shoes, and particularly to an imp roved .construction for ladies shoes provided with high heels, the predominant object of the invenf tion being to provide an improv/ederah shank construction for shoes of this type,

whereby the tendency of the heels of these from end to end.v Ordinarily, this shank eX- 20 tended from the portion of the sole of the.

shoe known as the break, but more specifically, the curved point at which the groundcontacting portion of the outsole' joins the arch portion of said outsole, to a point a very slight -distance inwardly beyond .the

front edge of the heel of thel shoe. This construction resulted in a weak spot at the front edge of the heel of the shoe, and consequently it frequently happened. that when a greater part of the weight of a wearer of shoes so made was supported by one of said shoes, the excessive weightv on the arch por-` tion fof the shoe would tend to straighten out the curved arch, with the result that the heel ofthe shoe wouldbe moved rearwardly relative to'the toe portion of the shoe land 'in this manner the outsole was -broken at the forward edge of the heel.

Instead of terminating the arch shank of a" shoe made4 in accordance with this invention at a point adjacent to the front edge of the heel of the shoe as heretofore, the rearmost or heel portion of my improved arch shank extends into and conforms to the. shape of the heel portion of the'shoe so that this part of the shoe is materially strengthi ened without rendering the arch portion of the shoe unduly rigid. l o V -Another important feature of my ,inven- 5 tion resides in thelfact that the insole of a shoe made in accordancev with the inventionv is Split longitudinally in a direction forwardly from the edge of the rearmost or -other of said fla portions'may be made sep- 1927. SerialV No. 185,755.

heel portion thereof so as to provide said msole with a pair of flap portions arranged one above the other and the shank is passed through a slit in said insole so that the rear portlon thereof is interposed between said flap plortions while the forward portion of the s ank is arranged in Contactl with the '60 outer face of the insole.

Figure 1 is a perspective of the improved arch shank forming a part of my invention;

Figure 2 is a plan View ofthe insole forming a part of the invention;

Figure 3 Vis an enlarged section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;'

Figure 4 is a .view of a ladys shoe made in accordance with my invention and shown partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section;

F.Figure 5 is a cross-section on line 5-5 of In Fig. 4 of .the drawin A designates a ladys shoe which is of t e-type which I will refer to as skeleton shoes, and includes an outsole B, an upper portion C at the toe portion of the shoe, and an upper portion D at the heel portion of said shoe. 1 designates the insole'of the shoe A, which insole, as shown clearly in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, is split longitudinally, said split portion being -eX- tended forwardly from the edge of the rear or heel portion of the insole to a point forward of the front edge of the heel E of the shoe (Fig. 4). The split heel portion of the insole 1 provides said insole at this'point with .a lower flap portion 2 and an upper flap portion 3 which are, of course, integrally connected together at their inner ends. WhileI prefer to provide the insole of my improved shoe construction with flap portions 2 and 3 by Splitting said insole longitudin'ally, it is obvious that one or the arate and may e. secured to the associated` flap portion` in any suitable manner. Formed through the lower flap portionf2 of the insole is a slit 4, said slit-beingextended through said lower flap portion at a slight angle instead of at 'a right angle to'the top and Vbottom faces of said lower flap portion. This, manner` of forming the slit 4- provides said slit with apair of inclined walls 5 which arefor a purpose to be here- 105- inafter set forth.r

` forward portion of said arch shank, that is to say, the portion forward of the slit 4, is

l interposed between the outsole B and the insole 1 of the shoe; The rear or heel p01'- tion of the arch shank 6 is interposed between the flap portions 2 and 3 of the insole,V as shown clearly in Fig. 4, Aand due to the inclined walls 5 of the slit 4, the material at the opposite sides of the slit 4 is not displaced by the arch shank to produce raised portions on the insole. The rear or heel portion of the arch shank 6, which is interposed between the Hap portions 2 and 3 of the insole, is shaped to conform to thel shape of the heel portion of the shoe, as shown' in Fig. 5, and said heel portion of said shank is provided with a plurality of nail-receiving apertures 7 formed therethrough through which nails 10 are driven to secure the heel E of the shoe in place.

In the manufacture of a shoe in accordanc-e with my improved arrangement, the, insole and 'upper are secured together on the last in the usual temporary manner and the arch shank, which is extended through the slit 4 in the insole 1, at this time fis secured to the insole by means of a tack 8 at the forward end of the archl shank, and a similar tack 9, which passes throughv the shank and into the insole at a point adjacent to the front edge of the heel of the shoe, the shank being provided with apertures at these points to receive said tacks. The outsole is then arranged in place on the last on which the shoe is being made, and the outsole, insole and upper are secured together in the usual manner in accordance with which the outsole,.insole and upper are sewed together by a rowV of stitches: which extends around the marginal edge ofthe front portion of the shoe, said row of stitches terminating adjacent to the front edge of the heel E. The outsole, insole and heel -portion of the upper are also secured together in the usual manner by tacks which are driven from the outside of the shoe through theoutsole, insole and inturned p0rtion of the upper but these tacks are of such v length that they will pass only through the lower ilap portion 2 'of the insole and will not extend into the upper Hap portion 3 thereof.

Whenithe outsole, insole and upper portions of the shoe have been secured to ether as described, the heel E will be arran e in place on the shoe, and when the upper ap portion 3 of the insole has been moved upwardly to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2, nails or similar fastening devices 10 will be driven from the inside vof the shoe through thefapertures 7 in the heel portion of the shank and through the lowerflap lportion 2,4 outsole B, and into the/heel E, whereby said heel will be secured in place.

After the fastening devices 10 have been driven into the heelE as described, the up-v .per iiap portion 3`of the insole will be moved has been secured in its normal position as described that said upper iap portion will efectively cover the heads of the fastening devlces l0 and will also function as a cushion between the heel portion of the arch shank and the heel of a wearer of the` shoe. i

Due to the fact that the arch shank of my improved shoe structure extends to the rear end of the shoe instead of terminating adj acent to the front edge of the heel as heretofore, and also because the heel portion of the l shank is shaped'to conform to the shape of the heel portion of the shoe and is rigidly secured in place by the nails which secure the heelto the shoe, my improved shoe is greatly strengthened .at the point where shoes of this type were formerl rather'weak, and, v

therefore, the tendency or the outsole of the shoe to be broken at the front edge of the heel is eliminated. Also, it is pointed out that while the shoe is given a'dditional strength where needed by my improved construction, still the desired flexibility of the shoe at the arch portion thereof is not interfered with.

Iclaim: Q 1. An apparel shoe comprising an outsole, an insole, a heel, and an arch shank having a heel portion, saidinsole being split longitudinally at its heel portion to provide a pair of lapportions one of which is provided with a slit formed therethrough, said arch shankV being extended through said slit in a manner- A to cause the heel portlon thereof to be interposed between said flap portions of said ini sole. y

2. An apparel shoe comprising an outsole, an insole, a sole being split longitudinally at its heel portion to provide a pair of Hap portions one of which is provided with a slit formed therethrough, the heel portion of said arch shank being shaped to conform approximately to the shape of the heel portion of the shoe and said arch shank being extended through said slit in a manner to cause the .heel portion thereof to be interposed betweenl vsind Hap portions of said insole.

3. An apparel shoe comprising anoutsole, an insole, a heel, an `arch shank provided with a heel portion shapedto corrform approximately to the shape ofthe heel portion 'ofthe shoe, said insole being split longitudinally at its heel-portion to provide a pair of ap portions one of which is provided with a slit. Hap portion of said insole into saidheel, said formed therethrough, said arch shank being heel portion of said arch shank being covered extended through said slit` in a manner to by a Hap port-ion of said insole. 10 cause the heel portion thereof to be interposed lIn testimony whereof, I have hereunto set 5 between 'said flap portions of said insole, and my hand.

fastening devices extended through said heel p y, portion of said arch shank and through a. JOHN W. LAKE. 

